Forms and Documents

All department procedures are contained within the single document entitled Department Handbook. This document is given to each new member of department when they arrive. See the adminstrator's secretary for up-to-date printed copies. The document is up-dated annually each September ready for the new intake of students.

Postdoc forms

Casual Work forms

If you are undertaking casual work for the first time, please complete a ‘Casual worker new starter data collection form’, which will enable us to create a record for you on the HR system (required for payment). Please also complete a ‘Starter checklist form’ (previously a P46) to ensure that your payment is taxed correctly.

Please be aware that it is a legal requirement for you to complete a right to work check before you start any work. If you are a student visa holder, please also complete a ‘Tier 4 Student Employment Declaration’, and take note the following restrictions:

Most undergraduate and taught postgraduate students on Tier 4 visas are restricted to a maximum of 20 hours per week work during term-time/ any time during which you have study commitments (this includes any weeks when the student has study commitments, even if this is outside of the standard term-time). Paid and unpaid work counts towards your maximum permitted working hours.

Most postgraduate research students on Tier 4 visas are restricted to a maximum of 20 hours per week work all year round, as research students are not considered to have terms. For further information, please contact the HR Manager.

Short Term Study and visitor visa holders are prohibited from taking any employment, whether paid or unpaid.

If you have completed a right to work check and other required forms, you can then complete a ‘Casual Worker Timesheet’, including any work that you do in a given month. Please return your completed and authorised timesheet by the end of the month, so that it can be processed for the following month’s payroll. If everything is in order, you will receive payment on the penultimate working day of the following month. If the timesheet is missing information or if you have not completed the appropriate forms, this is likely to result in delays to your payment being processed. If you have any questions about casual work, please contact the HR Manager.

Academic Visitor forms

Members of departmental established academic staff are eligible to sponsor visitors, although other individual senior researchers or academic-related staff may be given permission to host a visitor at the Head of Department’s discretion.

Staff wishing to host a visitor need to read all the documentation below and return the completed application form V7 (and V8 if necessary).

All queries about academic visitors should be directed to Kay Davies Tel:01865 273682 or via email to kay.davies AT materials.ox.ac.uk

Reward and Recognition Scheme for Academic-Related and Support Staff – Department of Materials

The Reward and Recognition Scheme for Academic-Related and Support Staff is now open for nominations. Eligible staff can be nominated for an Excellence Award, equivalent to 3% of salary (either recurrent or non-recurrent). It is expected that in the majority of cases non-recurrent awards will be made. Eligible staff can also be nominated for a Recognition Award of £200. The closing date for nominations is 28 February 2018.

Members of staff on grades 1-10 with 6 months service (as at 31 December 2017) are eligible for consideration. Holders of Marie Curie Fellowships and those who have transferred into the Department via a TUPE arrangement are ineligible for an award. The scheme allows for awards to be made to approximately 10% of eligible staff.

Nominations for Excellence Awards will be made primarily by line managers, using the manager nomination form. Eligible staff may also nominate themselves using a self-nomination form; this form also requires comments from the individual’s line manager. Staff nominated for Excellence Awards should:

have performed well in all the key areas of their jobs, AND

have consistently demonstrated exceptional performance, significantly above that which might reasonably have been expected for their grade.

Recognition Awards of £200 are designed to reward one-off contributions or examples of high performance by individuals or teams. Managers can therefore nominate individuals or all staff in their team for a Recognition Award. Panels have the discretion to award a recognition payment (£200) as an alternative award when a nomination for an Award for Excellence has been made, but a recognition payment is considered to be more appropriate.

The period under review is the calendar year 2017. All forms should be sent to hr@materials.ox.ac.uk by 28 February 2018.

Personal Development and Review (PDR)

The department has launched a Personal Development and Review (PDR) Scheme for administrative, technical and research support staff (who have completed their probationary period). The scheme involves a confidential annual review discussion, which would normally be conducted by an individual’s line manager. Academic and research staff are covered by alternative schemes.

The intention is that the PDR scheme will build on existing staff management processes, such as one-to-one discussions and team meetings, and will form part of a continuing dialogue between an individual and their line manager. The review, apart from passing on information about training needs and other points requiring action by the department, will be kept confidential.

Staff should note that there is no direct link between the scheme and salary, promotion, or discipline, for which there are separate University procedures. If, however, it appears that your job has changed, the PDR can act as a prompt to update your job description.

Reviewers will be contacted to confirm which staff they are due to review. PDRs will be conducted on an annual cycle, which should be completed by 30 September each year. Reviewers should therefore arrange to meet with reviewees during the next two months. The meeting should take place in a venue where you both feel comfortable and where the discussion can take place in confidence. The meeting will generally last around an hour.

Reviewees will need to complete a PDR preparation form (Form A) in advance of the meeting, and a record of review discussion (Form B) following the meeting. Once completed and signed by the reviewee and reviewer, forms should be returned to the HR Manager.

Safety FAQS

Department Stationery Templates

The University of Oxford has a strong brand and is actively promoting the careful and correct usage of the Quadrangle and Rectangle brand marks and the belted crest. Please see the Oxford University Branding Toolkit for many pages of guidelines and instructions.

In addition the Department of Materials has it's own "OxfordMaterials" brand which should be used in conjunction with the University Brand on all departmental publications.

The above image of the Oxford Materials logo is a JPEG image suitable for inserting into Microsoft Office documents and presentations and printing on desktop colour laser printers. (Rightclick image and select SaveAs). For larger publications such as posters a TIFF image is available Oxford Materials logo (TIFF). Note that in 2012 the website redesign project modified the colours of the Oxford Materials logo so all members of department are requested to discard old versions of the logo.

In 2008 the Department redesigned it's headed notepaper to incorporate the new Oxford University brand rather than to use the University recommended stationery. It was decided that the rectangular brand mark (rather than the quadrangle) was a better balance with the OxfordMaterials logo. It was decided that the recommended Foundry font was not compatible with the font of the OxfordMaterials logo therefore the notepaper footer text is Verdana font. It was decided not to pre-print personalized notepaper for senior staff. Generic pre-printed header notepaper is available to all members of department from Reception. Several slightly different Microsoft Word document templates are provided below which recreate the pre-printed headed notepaper.